What Is the Church?
What Is the Church?
We continue with you on this weekly page a section about the Church, which includes much doctrine, liturgy, canon law, and ecclesiastical knowledge.
The Church is the House of God, the House of Prayer, and the House of Angels. Jacob, the father of the patriarchs, said about the first church consecrated in the world:
“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen 28:17).
The place was called “Bethel,” meaning “House of God,” for “El” means God. David also calls the church the House of the Lord, saying:
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Ps 121:1).
If the church is the House of God, it must be approached with reverence and awe — “How awesome is this place!” — and also with holiness and divine work. Therefore, the Psalmist said:
“Holiness befits Your house, O Lord” (Ps 92).
The first and most fitting work for the church is prayer, for in it we speak with God, the Master of the house. Thus, the Lord Jesus said:
“My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Mk 11:17).
Since the church is God’s house, it resembles heaven, for heaven is God’s dwelling place.
That is why the church has a dome or domes — the dome symbolizes heaven. The Arabs often call heaven “the blue dome.” And because angels dwell in heaven, we also say that the church is the “House of Angels,” as in the Doxology of Morning: “Peace be to you, O church, the house of angels.”
As heaven is adorned with light and stars, the church too is adorned with lights.
The church itself is called a lampstand, as in the Book of Revelation: “the seven golden lampstands” (Rev 1:2).
We decorate the church with lights, especially with candles, which have spiritual meaning because of their symbolism.
The angels in heaven are like stars; likewise, the pastors of the churches are called stars, for they are the angels of the churches. St. John the Seer says:
“These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands” (Rev 2:1).
“The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev 1:20).
The faithful — as the Church — are compared to stars:
“They shall shine like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3), and “For one star differs from another star in glory” (1 Cor 15:41).
The church is also compared to the Tabernacle of Meeting, taking its form in its structure.
Because the bishop represents the church, we see that some bishops’ turbans resemble the dome, and others’ resemble the tabernacle.
The tabernacle also symbolizes the church’s sojourning on earth, as the Psalmist says:
“I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me” (Ps 118).
The church is also compared to Noah’s Ark, being the safe place where believers are saved from the flood of the world, which is also compared to the sea.
The Names of Apostles and Saints
Churches are built in the names of saints, honoring them and seeking their intercessions, as the Lord said: “He who honors them honors Me,” and “He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me” (Lk 10:16; Mt 19:28).
Some Protestants object to churches being named after saints, saying they are God’s churches, not saints’. We do not deny they are God’s churches, but for distinction, some are named after cities, and others after saints.
Many things belonging to God were attributed by God Himself to His saints:
For example, the Law and the Holy Scriptures — we often read of “the Law of Moses,” though it is God’s Law. God attributed it to Moses out of love. Likewise, the Psalms are attributed to David, though they are God’s words through David. The same applies to all the divine books — we say “the Book of Isaiah,” “the Book of Ezekiel,” etc.
Similarly, the Temple is called “Solomon’s Temple,” though it is the Temple of God. God attributed it to Solomon, and likewise to Zerubbabel, who built the later one.
God not only attributed His law and temple to His saints, but He also associated His name with them, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” though He is the God of all creation — He did so out of love and honor for His saints.
Even Protestants sometimes name their churches after saints, such as the Anglican “Cathedral of All Saints.”
God placed the names of the twelve apostles on the foundations of the wall of the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:14) and the names of the twelve tribes on its twelve gates (Rev 21:12), though Jerusalem is “the city of the great King.”
Therefore, there is no issue if a church — God’s house — is named after the Virgin Mary, Archangel Michael, St. Mark, St. George, or any saint. The first church in the world was “the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark” (Acts 12:12).
Since the Church was founded upon the faith of the apostles, it is built upon twelve pillars symbolizing them, so that our faith may be like theirs — firm as the rock on which the Lord said, “On this rock I will build My Church” (Eph 2:20):
“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
How wonderful that God honors His children — and yet we would not honor our fathers, His children!
Building the Church
The Church is likened to Noah’s Ark, as it saves the faithful from the stormy sea of the world. The lampstand represents the ship’s mast, the sanctuary represents the rudder, the cross above represents the flag, the deacons the sailors, and the bishop or priest the captain.
The church bells call people to prayer, announcing the beginning of worship — as trumpets did in the Old Testament to gather the people or summon them to battle, or for the Feast of Trumpets.
The church usually has three doors: west, south, and north.
The western door is the main entrance. The southern door was for the offerings and near it was the Diaconia (house of service), where people brought their offerings. Offerings are everything one offers to God, not only the Eucharistic bread.
Inside the church, there is a place called Bethlehem, where the holy bread is baked — called so after the village where Christ, the Lamb who bears the sin of the world, was born.
The baptismal font is located in the northwestern corner. Baptism is the entrance to church membership and true faith, the beginning of communion in the Body and Blood of the Lord.
Since the east symbolizes light and faith — the place of the altar — the unbaptized must first be in the west; then by baptism, they move from west to east. Hence it is wrong to place the baptismal font near the altar in the east, as some do for convenience.
Before baptism, the catechumen faces west and renounces Satan; afterward, they turn east to confess the faith. The mother carries her child on her left shoulder facing west to renounce Satan, then on her right shoulder facing east to declare the Creed — symbolizing moving from left to right, from west to east, from darkness to light.
At Christ’s second coming, the righteous will be on His right hand and the wicked on His left (Mt 25). The north symbolizes coldness, while the south warmth — before baptism, the soul has not yet received the warmth of the Holy Spirit.
The Church: The Assembly of Believers
The word Ecclesia in Greek means “assembly” — specifically, the assembly of believers who are justified by the grace of Christ and united in one body, one sacramental fellowship, and one faith under legitimate shepherds.
One Body:
The Church as one body is described in many of St. Paul’s epistles:
“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Rom 12:4–5).
“If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Cor 12:26–27).
The Church is thus the Body of Christ, and He is the Head:
“He is the head of the body, the church” (Col 1:18; see also Col 2:19; Eph 4:15; Eph 1:22; 5:23).
“God gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body… For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones… For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church” (Eph 5:23; 1:22–23; 4:15).
The Church is the assembly of those baptized with one baptism — those who have received divine sonship and live in holiness, for the Body of Christ is holy.
Anyone who does not live this holy life is separated by the Church — excommunicated — as the Scripture says:
“Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person” (1 Cor 5:13).
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine, Year 18, Issues 5 & 6 (Feb 9, 1990).
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